Blur are set to record and release a new single for the first time in seven years, it was announced today.
The group, who reunited for a series of gigs last summer, will release a limited series of 7-inch vinyl singles to coincide with Record Store Day on April 17, in support of independently-owned record shops.
Blur have not released a single since Good Song off their final album Think Tank in 2003, which was recorded after lead guitarist Graham Coxon had left the band.
It is understood that the single will contain two new songs, with more details due to be revealed next week. It is also understood that only 1,000 copies of the record will be issued but the title has yet been revealed.
Frontman Damon Albarn, who has since gone on to have success with acclaimed projects such as Gorillaz and The Good, The Bad & The Queen, said in a statement: “We want independent record stores to continue – they’re an important part of our musical culture. Music is a simple way for Blur to show our support and we hope people like it.”
The single will only be available through a selected number of independent music stores and will be released by Parlophone Records, who will also release tracks by Bat For Lashes, Hot Chip, Lily Allen, Babyshambles and the Pet Shop boys, as well as a re-issue of The Beatles’s Paperback Writer. Some of the releases will include material never heard before, Parlophone have said, and will be presented in vintage-style sleeves.
Following star-turns at Glastonbury and Hyde Park last year, speculation grew among fans that Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree might record new material together, but Albarn returned to produce a third Gorillaz album and no new songs were announced.
The band have yet to suggest that the new release will be anything other than a one-off, but it is likely to fuel hopes that the stars of Britpop may return to the studio again.
The London four-piece have less than two weeks to record and release their single, but are reportedly confident it will be ready in time.
On April 17, 1,000 independent record shops across 18 countries will take part in Record Store Day, which will include a series of in-store gigs across 150 British shops. There are fewer than 300 independent record shops left in Britain, just a third of the number there were five years ago.